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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Owl Cane Take 2

This is my second owl cane. I started with a different sketch and a different color scheme than the first. I was hoping for a more subtle black, blue and gray theme with a hint of cream, but the colors of my component canes when reduced down to the size I was using in my own were much bolder in color that I was hoping for. It's always a learning process though and eventually with enough practice I'll understand the amount of color I need in component canes for the look I'm after. So that is the first challenge I faced in putting together my second owl cane.
The second challenge was the clays I was using. Most of the time for canes of this type, I like to look through my stock of leftover clays from other projects. I guess it's that practical farm girl that still resides in my soul. =) Most of the time it's a great use of my leftovers, but for this one I grabbed a bag of cream colored clay for the owl's face that was made from some clay that I was having issues with. It conditioned well, seemed to

have the right consistency, but would split rather than reduce. I didn't realize it was "that" clay until I started reducing the cane for the face and it started breaking into pieces rather than reducing. I really should have just thrown it into my scrap clay jar at that point because it gave me issues in reducing the whole cane. My frugal nature is the death of me sometimes. lol
Challenge #3 was the size. I started out with a fairly small and shallow cane for this one, but have learned from the demand for my previous owl that a larger cane would be worth my time and easier to make and reduce. So in the future I will buy more clay and start with a larger, deeper cane that reduces with less tlc.
Challenges aside, I'm learning and all these challenges are necessary if I want to learn more about how involved complex canes of this nature are. I've been working on a few dragon sketches, a griffon, and several southwestern animal motifs. It may be a few months before I get time to tackle these, but I am excited about the new challenges ahead.